As this is my last blog of 2016, I thought I would set aside the serious stuff about writing and say a little about this last year. This will be short, because the latest addition to the Swinfen family, a golden cocker spaniel puppy, eight-week-old Suki, is taking up quite a lot of time at the moment. Here she is, arriving after a two-hour car journey from the west of Scotland, during which she behaved impeccably:

I’m delighted to announce publication of the eighth book in The Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez.

I love doing the historical research for my novels, partly because I simply enjoy plunging into the past, but also because of the oddities and curious byways it entails. Some of these find their way into my fiction, some do not, but all are intriguing and enjoyable, so I thought that this month I would share a few of them.

Some time ago (July 2015) I wrote about my experiences of marketing after I became an independent author-publisher. Since then, things have moved on, so I thought it was time to look at this aspect of our complex profession again.

I have always found setting in fiction to be one of its most important elements for me. There is a triad of these important elements, all of equal importance, which create compelling fiction – character, setting and story. And because I think they contribute equally, I’ve been careful to list them alphabetically!

There are many ways in which a writer needs to think about time flow. We cannot write every moment of a story exactly as it happens, in every precise detail, for then a story covering a time span as short as a month would run to millions of words – impossible to write, equally impossible to read. We must be selective.

Sooner or later, most author-publishers start wondering whether they should also produce audiobook versions of their books. Audiobooks are becoming very popular, particularly in circumstances where they can make a rather boring activity more enjoyable, such as a long journey by car or public transport, or a regular workout at the gym. Recently a farmer mentioned that it relieved the boredom of sitting in a tractor all day. And for many years audiobooks have provided a door into the world of books for the blind and partially sighted, and others who must cope with the physical problems of reading from a book.

The Bookseller’s Tale

I’m excited to announce publication of the first book in my new Oxford Medieval Mysteries series.

Oxford, Spring 1353

When young bookseller Nicholas Elyot discovers the body of student William Farringdon floating in the river Cherwell, it looks like a drowning. Soon, however, Nicholas finds evidence of murder. Who could have wanted to kill this promising student? As Nicholas and his scholar friend Jordain try to unravel what lies behind William’s death, they learn that he was innocently caught up in a criminal plot. When their investigations begin to involve town, university, and abbey, Nicholas takes a risky gamble – and puts his family in terrible danger.